Soaring High
by Danielle
Summary: You have to read it to see what it's about. Give it a shot, you might love it...or not ; )


Standard disclaimer: Paramount owns them. I don't. Then again, a fan does have their rights…

Notes: This one is different, I don't think I've read one like it yet…go ahead, give it a shot J . Thankyou to Jess for beta reading it. Thankyou to all who read it. Please let me know what you think. 

Soaring High

He didn't know what had happened, only that he felt different. Like there was something about him that just shouldn't be, but it was and it had never felt more right than it felt wrong. Like it wasn't meant to be but it was, and he could not figure it out.

Tom Paris walked slowly through the deep blue and green jungle, with no idea where he was going. How did he get there? What had happened that had put him there and where was Voyager? These questions coursed through his mind and he hoped that his crew was okay, but he felt as if they were fine. He had always had a small intuition about whether they were okay or not, but he never had known how to explain it, so he didn't try.

He stumbled for what seemed like the thousandth time and cursed himself. He had to find out what was going on and how to fix it, but he felt so tired. He felt so different, yet he hadn't changed. He didn't know how to explain it. He almost growled in frustration at his lack of knowledge for the moment, but it wouldn't help so he kept on walking.

He looked down at his clothes again. The loose white pants now clung to his legs from the water coming off the jungle plants. The baggy dark blue shirt rubbed against his skin and was soaked through from his sweat. That was another question he had, where had his clothes come from? A leaf brushed across his hand and he immediately rubbed where the assaulted skin now tickled. When had he become so sensitive to touch?

He stumbled again and righted himself. Okay, he needed to rest, just for a short while. He leaned against the tree and folded his arms across his stomach. Now that definitely did not feel right. His clouding mind registered a slight touch to his abdomen but a stronger touch that felt like it should have been on his back? That didn't seem right, but then again, none of this did. Slowly he drifted into his bodies much craved sleep.

Commander Chakotay sat on the bridge and watched everyone carefully as they worked. It had been three days since Tom had seemed to evaporate off the face of the planet. It had been three days of little sleep, little progress and a lot of worry. Now Harry was once again totally absorbed in performing scans of the planet and then trying to think of other scans that could improve his search. None of them seemed to be getting anywhere.

They had talked to the planet officials, its residents and anybody else that might know something of his whereabouts. They had, of course, not gotten anywhere so Tuvok and the Captain were back on the planet aiding them in a search that had started two days ago, and would be called off soon. He sighed and rubbed a hand across his face before going back to his own effort in the search. It was then that Harry spoke up anxiously, breaking the determined silence that had been clouding them all.

"Sir, I think I found him. He's located in sector 36, grids 92 and 3."

"Can you get a lock on him?" He asked trying to keep his voice neutral.

"Yes sir, I'll beam him to sick bay now."

"Good, call the captain and let her know what's happening. I'll be in sickbay."

"Yes sir." He acknowledged and went back to his work, though Chakotay knew he'd rather be accompanying him to the sickbay that now contained his best friend.

It took him about two minuets to get to his destination. Chakotay knew that it was a reasonable time frame considering the distance, but would have still liked to be there sooner. He went to walk through the doors and was forced to stop abruptly when they failed to open. What was this, he wondered and overrode the security codes that had been put in place. When he walked in he saw Tom lying on the biobed, and that took his breath away.

Upon his arrival the Doctor promptly asked that he stand to the side until he finished his examinations, frowning the whole time. Chakotay found himself unable to tear his eyes from the pilot's unconscious form. It was Tom, but he had definitely been through something more than a simple vanishing act these last few days.

The Doctor finally turned to him and signaled him over.

"What happened?" He asked before he even began to move. The EMH gave him and irritated glance and went to cover Tom up while he rested.

"He'll be fine, he wasn't injured at any point in his 'abduction' and right now is just extremely tired."

"That's good to hear, but this doesn't look like fine to me." He said gesturing at Toms now covered body.

"Well of course not, if the human body was meant to have those it would have been born with them. It figures Tom would be the chosen one." He grumbled. "I would like to do more tests to learn everything I can. I will inform you the second I have my answer's." With that the hologram turned back to his work without a second glance at the commander. Not knowing what else to do he went back to the bridge to inform everyone that the pilot was fine.

Two hours later the doctor found himself in the briefing room surrounded by anxious senior officers. After he got them all to sit down he began to explain to them Tom's 'situation'.

"It has become obvious that Tom was abducted by a very advanced species. They performed some experiments on him and now he has wings." Okay, so he probably could have phrased it differently, but that was pretty much the basic facts. How Tom got into these things he had no idea, but he did know that it would take the pilot a while to adjust to it.

"What?" B'Elanna demanded. "Wings, as in a bird? How is that possible!" The others stared at him with the same disbelief and he went on to explain.

"I was getting to that if you could just sit quietly for a moment." The captain glared at him but he promptly ignored her, he'd gotten used to those looks along time ago.

"Tom has undergone a surgical operation to have them implanted into his back. Now in order for them to actually work…"

"Work?" Now it was Harry who was interrupting him. "You mean he can actually **fly** with them, in the air?"

"Yes, he can." He answered trying to be patient. "In order for them to work with his body the beings who did this have created new nerve endings and muscle tissue in his back which has been formed to fit with the rest of his body. I don't yet know how they managed to connect it to his brain impulses, but I will look into that later. These nerve endings that have now adapted to his body cannot be removed or they will cause a paralysis in his whole body. That means that I cannot remove them, they are now a permanent part of our Tom Paris." He paused to let that sink in. 

This, according to starfleets failed attempts in the past, was a procedure that was impossible to perform on a being not born with the ability to fly. They had been able to graph the wings onto people before, but they had never created the proper nerve endings or muscles to allow them to work. It had been tried, failed and forgotten many years ago, now it seemed they had been wrong. Of course even if they could get the wings to work somewhat correctly, the bodies were not built to accommodate for flight, which led to his next point.

"Tom's bones have also been hollowed out, making him slightly lighter, but they still have the strength of regular bones. Usually it would require even more weight to be taken off in order for flight to prevail, but in this case the wings are strong enough to manage."

"Doctor." Tuvok spoke up from his seat at the far end of the table. "What is the size of his span?" The curiosity was evident in the Vulcans voice though his face didn't betray any emotion.

"They are an impressive six feet each, giving him a twelve foot span in total, if he wishes." Now they looked at him with shock and even more questions so he hurried on before they could interrupt him.

"His wings are not feathers like a bird from earth," he began to explain as he brought up a diagram of one wing. "They are more like a bat, or the fantasy beast called a dragon." They looked in interest at the leathery material that consisted of a large wing. "Now, the wings flesh has been created with Tom's DNA, giving it a partial skin mixture, but it is mainly of a leathery substance which I have never seen before. This wings flesh has the ability to stretch out very thinly, thus the twelve foot span, but it can also compact to make it very small. The reason for this is so that the wings can actually wrap around Tom's torso, becoming like another thick layer of skin to his back and front. This allows him to wear regular clothing and only look slightly bulkier. Almost unnoticeable." His holographic enhanced hearing picked up the quiet sighs of relief flowing around the room. He knew that it would have been a problem for Tom to have his newly acquired wings and no where to put them. Twelve feet is a large span and would have caused problems with his every day life and duties. He also knew that Tom, being the way he was, would not want everyone to see them. He would probably hide them as much as possible from sight and who knew if he would actually use them.

"There is no actual bones in his wing structure, but there is cartilage present for the frame. The leathery material is very strong. Even thinned out a very sharp knife would have to be thrust pretty hard to do any damage." He ended his explanation for Tom's condition and everyone sat in silence for a few minuets before the Captain voiced the question on everybody's mind.

"How is Tom doing with all of this?" He looked at her a shrugged.

"He hasn't awoken yet. May I make a suggestion though?"

"Yes."

"Do not push him about it, you know how touchy he can be. Also, you might want to keep it quiet, let him decide when he wants people to know."

"That sounds like a good idea. Dismissed." The Doctor nodded and left to head back to sickbay. He hoped Tom hadn't woken up yet, because he wanted to be there to help him with the shock. When he arrived at the doors he saw crewman Jerone standing outside the sickbay doors, looking at them in frustration and pain. He held his arm clutched into his chest, and slumped against the door waiting for whoever was in there to open it.

"Crewman, what seems to be the problem?" The EMH asked, knowing that he would have to let the young man in to receive treatment. He opened the doors and led him to the closest biobed.

"I think I dislocated my shoulder."

"Hmmm, so I see." He replied running the scanner over him and watching it intently for a moment. "What is it you were up to this time?"

"Horseback riding. I got bucked off." He groaned when the doctor popped it back into place and then began to heal it with the regenerator. After a few moments he was fine and the doctor tried to hustle him out of sickbay. Unfortunately he saw the man twist to look at Tom and his eyes nearly popped out of is head.

"Oh my god! Is that Tom?"

"Yes it is. Come back tomorrow for your physical at seven hundred hours." And with that he practically shoved the man out. So much for keeping it quiet.

He went to stand by Tom's side. His assistant was still breathing normally and in a natural sleep. After the energy it must have taken to sustain the complex surgery he wouldn't be surprised if Tom slept until the next day. Unfortunately he couldn't get Tom's wings to once again wrap around his torso while he slept. He sighed and went back to his tests; he wanted to learn everything that had happened so he could help the pilot out in the future.

Tom huddled down under his blanket, content to stay where he was, but he didn't remain that way for long. He remembered his trek through the jungle on some planet, but this didn't feel like the jungle. He shifted slightly and felt the cushions reposition themselves under him. This felt very familiar, it felt like the biobeds of sickbay. Slowly he opened his eyes to a dim light and decided that it was very early morning.

He didn't feel right. He felt different, and that gave him the urge to discover what was going on with him. He sat up slowly and froze when he felt an odd sensation, on his back? He looked over his shoulder and snapped his head forward again. Oh man, tell me I did not see that! He prayed frantically to any deity that would listen and turned to look at his back just to double check. When he realized they were still there the fear began to rise in the pit of his stomach.

"DOC!" He yelled. He wanted answers and he wanted them now. He jumped off the bed and turned in a fast circle, like a dog chasing his tail. 

What the hell was going on here! Last he checked it was not in a pilots resume to have real actual wings! He felt them slide against the bed, as if they were his arms. Oh man, this was scary.

"Tom, settle down!" The EMH ordered when he rushed out of his office to see his patient panicking. His wings were thrashing around behind him, like he couldn't control them, but he knew that was a result of his panicking. 

"Settle down! I have two wings sticking out of my back and your telling me to settle down! What are they doing there!" He demanded, still trying to get a better look at them.

"I am telling you to settle down. Stand still and let me explain!" he ordered and saw the fear in the blue gaze before it was carefully hidden and Tom got a hold of himself.

"You were abducted for three days. We didn't know where you went and then you were found in a jungle, with the wings." Tom stared at him for a moment before he threw his arms up in exasperation. When he did that the offending appendages easily contracted and wrapped around his torso. He looked down amazed for a second and looked up at the doctor.

"I have full control over these don't I." He stated. "Do they work?" The Doctor sighed. He knew Tom's medical side wanted a technical explanation, but he also knew that Tom was freaking out and trying to hide it. Who wouldn't freak out under the circumstances? Tom sat down and occasionally touched them with wonder while he listened to the Doctor's full explanation. Two hours later they started on the examinations that could only be done when Tom was awake. When they finished with those it was about six thirty in the morning.

Tom stood and stretched to the full twelve feet in the middle of the sickbay before easily tucking them back around his body, and went to grab a shirt. The Doctor watched in fascination. Tom Paris, with wings. They were truly magnificent too. It would take a while to get used to the thought of him actually having them, but he was sure he could manage, he only hoped that Tom could.

"Doc, how many people know?" He asked quietly, breaking the EMH's train of thought. He looked at Tom and sighed. He knew this might have been an issue with the man.

"The senior officers had a much less detailed briefing than your own, and a crewman came in last night and saw you. I am not aware if he has spread the rumor or not." Tom looked away in thought and then requested that he not talk about it to curious people.

"That won't be a problem Tom. Doctor patient confidentiality. Nobody will hear another squeak from me." He wanted to lighten the sudden serious mood but couldn't think of anything to say. So with that he told him he'd see him later and the tall man left.

Tom walked calmly down the hall, trying to give the air that nothing was wrong. But it was. He could feel every part of his wings as the fabric of his shirt rubbed against him. He could feel his new muscles ripple with every step he took and every movement of his arms. He felt the urge to not believe what had happened to him, to not believe that he had been subjected to experiments he couldn't remember. He wanted to pretend everything was normal. He wanted to pretend he wasn't a freak. But he couldn't, and no matter how much he wanted to pretend, he wouldn't. He accepted what had happened, but he wouldn't make a deal out of it. He was still him, right?

For the next four days he pretended he didn't see the curious looks others gave him when they thought he wasn't looking. He pretended he didn't see the worry from his friends. He joked with Harry about it, said he could call him the live version of 'Batman'. He went back to his regular routine. If the rumors weren't flying around, nobody would have even suspected anything had changed, and that's the way he wanted it.

He ignored whispered comments that his now enhanced hearing picked up. He ignored the fact that his skin could pick up the slightest changes in the air currents, and he ignored his extraordinary eyesight. Only the Doctor knew about these traits, and he didn't expect anyone else to find out. It was his life, his business.

Now he lay in bed, restless. Tossing and turning but not able to sleep. He felt an ache, a need that burned in his soul. He stood and stretched, his wings unfolding with an ease that betrayed the fact that they weren't supposed to be there. He kept them close to his body, casually folded at his back. That felt comfortable for the moment, and he began to pace. He had stared at them night after night in his mirror. He studied the exact spots where they turned from his skin colour at the base, to the black that covered the rest of them. He would have liked to call them ugly, but they weren't. They held a beauty that suggested a wild freedom, one he hadn't yet tested. He couldn't hold off his need anymore.

He paced to his closet and pulled out a pair of black sweat pants and a dark blue shirt. He threw them on and absently rubbed at the new tattoo on the base at the back of his neck. That marking had shown up with the wings, and was now an actually apart of his molecular structure. He could not remove it because it would just grow back.

He headed towards the holodeck with a determined step though he had never felt more uncertain. When he entered it he initiated the privacy lock and opened his hiking program. He stood on the top of a mountain, and gazed out at the sun and sky that seemed to stretch forever. He listened to the birds that cried and the wind that that blew softly around him. It was time.

He removed his shirt and spread his wings. They instantly caught the wind but he remained in control of his balance. He had always had good balance, but now it seemed he could walk a tight rope like he was born for it. They had definitely given him more than just natural flight.

He could feel his body itching from the need to soar, but he was afraid. He flapped his wings experimentally for the first time and his excitement rose with the powerful air current it created. He tried it again and again. Then he tried more than one powerful wave and felt himself lift slightly off the ground before landing again. A slow but sure grin spread over his face. Why hadn't he tried this sooner?

"Computer, safety protocols on?" He double-checked, he had no desire to die today.

"Complied." It answered and before he could give in to his fear he ran and dove off the cliff.

He felt the air catch under the mighty span and he allowed himself to glide for a minute to get used to the new sensations running over his body. Then he ordered his wings to work, and he found himself rising high above the mountain in no effort at all. And he kept rising, soaking up the feeling of flight the weightlessness, the freedom, and the power. He pumped his wings harder and harder, going straight up and then dropping like a bullet only to spread his wings and soar again. He twisted and turned, feeling every change in the air current and adapting to it. This was how he had felt once before in his life, when he was a child playing with his father. This was what he had been searching for his whole existence, and this was what he now had. This was his. He lost himself to the sensations and fulfillment, and thanked whoever had done this, for giving him his freedom. 

END.

So, what did you all think? All feedback is welcome, so drop a line. What can I say, I like getting emails J


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